Jerzy Jan Lerski | |
|---|---|
 Jerzy Lerski, 1944 | |
| Born | 1917 (1917) |
| Died | 1992 (aged 74–75) |
| Alma mater | Lwów University,Georgetown University |
| Occupations | lawyer, soldier, historian, political scientist, politician |
| Employer | University of San Francisco |
| Honours | Righteous Among the Nations, Officer's Cross of theOrder of Polonia Restituta |
| Righteous Among the Nations |
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| By country |
Jerzy Jan Lerski (nom de guerre:Jur; also known asGeorge Jan Lerski; 1917-1992) was a Polish lawyer, soldier, historian, political scientist, and politician.
AfterWorld War II he emigrated to theUnited States, then taught inJapan,Pakistan, andSri Lanka under the auspices of severalC.I.A.-funded organizations, and in 1966 became a professor at theUniversity of San Francisco.
Born 20 January 1917 inLwów,Poland (now Lviv, Ukraine), Jerzy Lerski studied law atLwów University. Ininterwar Poland he joined theStronnictwo Demokratyczne (Polish Democratic Party); he became known for his strong opposition toanti-semitic events.
Jerzy Lerski first saw action inWorld War II during the 1939Polish September Campaign. He fought in theBattle of Brześć Litewski in the rank of officer cadet (podchorąży, ensign). Taken prisoner by theSoviet Army during theSoviet invasion, he managed to escape from a train transport. He joined the anti-Soviet resistance but, with theNKVD (the Soviet Secret Police) actively looking for him, he escaped viaHungary toFrance, joining thePolish Armed Forces in the West. After thefall of France on 25 June 1940, Lerski went toGreat Britain.
In 1941 he became a member of theSilent Unseen (Polish:Cichociemni), an elite unit ofspecial-operations paratroopers of thePolish Armed Forces in the West, created inGreat Britain to operate inoccupied Poland.
In February 1943 he parachuted into Poland, collected information from thePolish Secret State, and delivered the information to thePolish Government-in-Exile inLondon, England.
In November 1944 he was appointed secretary toTomasz Arciszewski, the thirdPrime Minister of Poland in Exile (1944–1947). At a meeting between Arciszewski and theprime minister of the United Kingdom,Winston Churchill, Lerski gave a detailed report on the plight of the Jews in Poland.
When World War II ended in Europe, Lerski remained in London instead of returning to aSoviet-dominated Poland. He was active in the Polish political movement,Polski Ruch Wolnościowy Niepodległość i Demokracja.
On the eve of theCold War, he emigrated to theUnited States and in 1953 obtained a Ph.D. in history fromGeorgetown University.
Under the aegis of several organizations funded by theCentral Intelligence Agency as part of a U.S. program of countering communist influences,[1] during most of 1954–1958 Lerski lectured inJapan; later, inPakistan (1958–1960) andSri Lanka (1962–1964). Between 1964 and 1966 he conducted research atStanford University'sHoover Institution. In 1966 he received a tenured position at theUniversity of San Francisco, effectively concluding his engagement with Asian studies.[2]
At the University of San Francisco, he became a historian ofEast Central Europe. His courses at USF were on Modern European History.
In 1974 Lerski became president, for one year, of thePolish American Historical Association[3]
He retired from the University of San Francisco in 1980, but continued lecturing at theFromm Institute for Lifelong Learning at the University of San Francisco.
Lerski published books and articles on Polish history. In 1988 he published a memoir of his wartime experiences,Poland's Secret Envoy, 1939–1945.[4]
He was a personal friend ofKarol Józef Wojtyła, the laterPope John Paul II, and supportedSolidarność (Solidarity) founder and activistLech Wałęsa.
The State of Israel recognized him as aRighteous among the Nations, an honor accorded to non-Jews who risked their lives duringthe Holocaust to saveJews from extermination byNazi Germany. The citation read: "Jerzy Jan Lerski ... informed political circles abroad about the extermination and persecution of Jews."[5]
Jerzy Lerski died 16 September 1992 followingcoronary bypass surgery at the Veterans Hospital in San Francisco, California.
